‘Dancing with the Stars 21’ spotlight: Will Bindi Irwin, Derek Hough be big contenders?
What is interesting about this season of “Dancing with the Stars” is that you’ve probably got a large age spectrum competing than at almost any other point in the show’s history. Bindi Irwin is one of two teenagers alongside Hayes Grier taking part in this season, and she is coming into this almost from a completely different world than some of the other contestants. In a way, what she does in the day-to-day is entertainment, but there is a message of animal conservation that goes along with it.
What we will go ahead and say here is admit to a little bit of bias, given that we loved Bindi’s famous father Steve Irwin and we considered him one of our TV heroes when we were a teenager. There’s a nostalgic connection here, and that makes us want to root for her.
Name – Bindi Irwin
Age – 17
Claim to fame – Being the daughter of famed “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin. She’s also had her own series on Discovery Kids, and Netflix recently picked up episodes of another show she did in “Bindi’s Bootcamp.” Along with the rest of her family, she tries to keep the message of wildlife conservation going at the Australia Zoo.
Partner – Derek Hough. When it comes to being a winner, there are few others over the course of the series that have anywhere close to the sort of resume he does. While we hear the criticism all the time about how he gets some of the younger, more athletic pros, Bindi should still be a challenge. This is far from her comfort zone, and she’ll have to put in a lot of work.
Strengths – Bindi’s not a dancer, but she is young enough to be able to pick up some of the most and should be able to adapt well, since she is at least used to performing at times in front of an audience. Granted, doing events with animals is far different than learning how to tango. In terms of the voting public, her father was beloved, and we feel like she’s going to start out with a large support base behind her.
Weaknesses – Like with Hayes, we do wonder how much time she is going to be able to really spend even rehearsing for the competition; we’re actually more worried about that and some of the intense nature of this competition more so than whether or not she will be able to dance.
Prediction – Even if she starts off struggling, it’s just hard to imagine Bindi being an early exit this season. She’ll be easy for voters to root for, she should be likable enough to get new fans without much effort. We don’t think she’ll win, but she could be around the majority of the season.
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